


Life and Death

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Series: Gladnoct Week 2017 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Gladnoct Week, I'm Sorry, Implied Feelings, M/M, past relationship, ring magic, what a way to start off a pairing week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 07:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12836211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: The Ring of the Lucii was a powerful conduit for the magic of the crystal. The results of its use were...less than pleasant.





	Life and Death

**Author's Note:**

> Would you guys like some fries with that angst?  
> *hides from the barrage of rocks being thrown at me*  
> If it helps, the rest of the week's prompts I have written are happier...for the most part

It was the one regret Gladio had in life, being so pushy towards Noctis before he entered the crystal. Not because he didn’t think his words needed to be said, no. Harsh as they were, a little too harsh in hindsight when he thought about it, he still felt justified in trying to move his king out of his slump and onward to his goal.

What he didn’t know was what ‘onward’ truly meant for Noctis.

He lay awake at night during those ten years of ruin and wondered how different things might’ve been if he hadn’t spent his last moments with Noctis shouting at him, attacking him, egging him on and then sending him off on the assumption that all their problems would be solved when Noctis got to that damned rock. He wondered how Noctis might’ve felt watching everything between them fall apart before being pulled from their reality and left sleeping in the crystal for who knew how long. It was regrettable to Gladio that he didn’t know, wasn’t sure if he’d ever know. It was regrettable to Gladio that he’d let his king get taken from him, regrettable that he didn’t even apologize for the rift he’d torn between them.

Gods, it was so regrettable to Gladio that he now had to watch his king walk to his own doom. He was conflicted more than anything to see Noct’s head held so high as he did it too. The image of a true king; Noctis’ words held attention, demanded respect, and commanded obedience. He’d come back knowing immediately what he needed to do, and quickly set about doing it. There was no time for awkward apologies and sappy reunions, not for them. There was no time for anything, really…

When Gladio thought about it, he supposed “one regret” was a bit of a blanket statement. He’d had a few regrets in actuality, all of them tied to that one argument on that train. The subsequent brushing off of Noct’s feelings on the matter, having believed he’d given him enough time to grieve. The constant pressing against him, forcing him out of the shell he’d buried himself into so that he could become a king Gladio would be proud to protect. The king Gladio had taken years to believe Noctis would be. It’d all ended in an argument, but in the grand scheme of things, Gladio found this unimportant. His job came before feelings, be they Noctis’ anger and despair towards the events in Altissia or the slow mess that soon became of their shared attraction towards one another. Gladio hadn’t even thought much of it at the time, but it was easy to regret letting himself tear them apart for the sake of duty after the fact. Six, how he regretted that. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye, not having known at the time that he would need to.

Curiously, Gladio hadn’t thought he would need to factor the use of the ring into those regrets. He’d only seen Noctis use it once. After the group had reunited in Zegnautus and were set upon by a multitude of daemons, he’d noticed bright flashes of light out of the corner of his eye. What he’d thought was simply Noctis dodging his opponents had actually turned out to be a spell. Ring magic, he’d called it. Gladio had barely paid it any mind beyond that initial series of flashes in his periphery though. Too concerned with staying alive and simultaneously keeping everyone else safe, after all.

Now, however, as the group found themselves accosted by five red giants in the middle of the road, Gladio realized how easily he found pushing the ring on Noctis to be a regret.

He’d thought to himself, ‘five reds, huh. Easy enough’. Had pulled out his greatsword and readied for what would actually be a rather difficult and taxing fight. One red giant was easy enough to handle, after all they were rather predictable and Gladio had fought enough of them to be able to handle himself. And with the others at his back, he doubted even two or three would’ve been much of a hassle. But five was pushing it. These monsters wrecked everything in sight when they attacked, and their reckless swinging in close quarters could easily squash even the most well trained fighters out there. Even with all the magic and power of the crystal and the gods at their sides, they would have to be particularly careful during this fight. And on top of that, they hadn’t had much of a chance to see where Noctis was in terms of fighting ability. Locked in a crystal prison for ten years didn’t give one much opportunity to practice and polish up their skills. He’d handled himself against the small fry that had bothered them earlier on easily enough. But up against five red giants?

Even Ignis and Prompto looked uneasy, holding their weapons at the ready as the five armored giants pulled themselves out of the ground, lumbering towards the group once they were free. Gladio stepped forward, his instinct to guard the other three kicking in before Noctis held up a hand and spoke quietly. A command to halt. The sort of command one did _not_ make to their crownsguard when faced with five incredibly dangerous daemons. And yet Noctis ignored Gladio’s raised eyebrow and Ignis and Prompto’s questioning looks, instead stepping forward to stand between the group and the giants. A move Gladio couldn’t let fly so easily.

Growling under his breath, he marched up to Noctis, ignoring the way his king had outstretched his right arm, intent on finding out just what the hell he was thinking. It was Gladio’s job to shield Noctis, not the other way around, and Gladio was going to make that clear the moment he reached Noct. However, when he outstretched his own hand, ready to grab Noct’s shoulder and pull his king behind him, he found himself pausing. The hair on his arms rose, and the eerie sensation of chills ran across the nape of his neck. Where the night was windless and the air still, suddenly Gladio felt a breeze blow his hair askew. Around them, the wind picked up harshly, stopping the red giants in their tracks as they were slowly but surely pulled…backwards.

Apprehensively, Gladio’s gaze turned to Noctis. His sight was immediately captured by the glow of the ring on his finger, his arm still outstretched as he centered the magic in the direction of the daemons. Slowly, his eyes travelled up Noctis’ arm, watching as glowing runes filtered through the air, flashing bright before disappearing as more took their place. Though the alarms didn’t set off in Gladio’s head until he caught the first glimpse of Noctis’ exposed skin. It burned bright as dark streaks of raw power crawled up his skin, his eyes glowing a bright, bloody red. He seemed to pay no mind to the affect the ring had on his skin, his focus directed entirely at the targets of his spells. Almost hesitatingly, Gladio turned his own attention back to the giants.

Reality broke.

His muscles tightened in a fight or flight response and it took all of Gladio’s willpower not to jump in surprise as crystalline cracks appeared in the air, fragmenting the daemons as if their entire beings had been fractured. Almost immediately after, they simply ceased to exist, sucked into whatever rift Noctis had created. It was as if they were never there. The air had stilled again, the cracks gone and the runes dissipated. When Gladio turned to Noctis again, the burns were no more and his eyes no longer glowed, though they remained a burgundy color as the magic settled. Those red eyes flickered up to Gladio’s own, expressionless despite the pained crease in his brow and the tightness in his jaw, before turning to glance over at Prompto and Ignis. Gladio never took his eyes off of Noct, however, still processing exactly what it was he had just witnessed. Whatever it was he had just witnessed.

“I assume it’s not too much to ask what just happened?” Ignis asked after a beat of silence. He’d have felt the strange changes in the atmosphere, felt the heavy pressure on his skin that came along with Noct’s use magic, and probably even smelled the burning skin. But he wouldn’t have seen any of it. Gladio wasn’t sure if that was worse or better.

“Alterna,” Noctis simply answered.

“I’m…guessing that’s a ring spell?” Prompto chipped in. His voice sounded airy, as if he was struggling to breathe after what he just witnessed.

Gladio still didn’t bother to look at either of them to check.

“Yup. It takes a lot out of me though, so I won’t use it much. And it doesn’t always work.”

Doesn’t always work. _Doesn’t always_ …

Why the hell would Noctis put himself in the path of five red giants to try a spell that might not have even worked?!

Gladio felt his face pull into a grimace, his entire body tightening up even more in preparation of his reprimand. Noctis glanced at him again, his eyes finally back to their normal blue, before shaking his head. A silent cue to simmer down. It didn’t help much.

“Before I get a lecture, I can usually feel it when it fails. I would’ve had another spell ready if it did.”

Leaving it at that, Noctis started back on the road in the direction they’d been going before they were interrupted. Back on the pathway leading straight into Insomnia. He didn’t check behind to make sure he was being followed, only waved a hand, that same hand with the ring glinting in the artificial light of their flashlights, at the group.

“C’mon. We don’t have time to waste.”

There was only a short, unsure pause before all three of them fell into step behind their king. Gladio continued to watch him, unable to place the emotions warring in his head. Should he be irritated at Noct’s reckless show of power, should he be proud of the results that power produced? Should he allow that seed of affection to bloom again, impressed by Noctis’ retained battle prowess and how easily he took to the role of leader? Should he be afraid to give into that affection, knowing full well that his king might not even return it anymore? His eyes trailed once again to the Ring of the Lucii, glittering in the dim light.

No. He realized quickly as that same surge of regret washed over him that if anything, he was only sad that that small band of metal around Noctis’ finger, that ring that Gladio had been so determined to see him wear, would soon take him away.


End file.
